Tuesday, July 28, 2015

5 reasons to visit Sicily on Holiday

Portopalo di Capo Passero

In 1887 the eminent German author J. W. Goethe wrote in his renowned book The Italian journey: "To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything."

This is one of the most famous quote about the Trinacria. Now, the spontaneous questions to follow would be: Why? Why Sicily?

I will give you 5 reasons why you should visit this land at least once in your life.

The Volcano Etna at sunset - Photo source: meteoweb.eu

NATURAL
BEAUTIES & WEATHER Sicily is the biggest island in Italy, it
has beautiful coasts washed by blue sea, as well as country-sides,
woods, hills, an imposing volcano (Etna!) and two main mountain chains
called Madonie and Nebrodi.

The weather is amazing almost all
year round, so, whether you like swimming in the sea, hiking, skiing in
the winter season, or just sunbathing like a lizard, there is a spot for
you!

The Duomo of Monreale (PA)

CULTURE & HISTORY There’s no way you get
away from it. Even if you are not that kind of tourist you will still be
able to appreciate and touch millennial history with your own hands.

Culture in Sicily is everywhere, as our island boasts more than 3,000
years of history, going back to the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans,
Normans, Arabs, Germans, Spaniards. The list is so long!

Each
and every of these peoples left a remarkable footprint in our dna, in
who we are, what we eat and how we do things. Due to all these
dominations, the majority of our cities are open-air museums. Simple as
that!

Fried calamari, typical Sicilian dish

FOOD & WINE – Italian food is renowned all
over the world, but who does actually know the ancient tradition of the
Sicilian cuisine? Our food is so various and unique, because it’s the
result of this melting pot of dominations and cultures. And it changes from one province to another.Any true
Sicilian human being cannot conceive neither accept any social activity
that doesn’t involve eating some kind of food. Also wine is very
important in our style of living, just think that 3 of the most famous
wines in the world are actually Sicilian: Marsala, Nero d’Avola and Cerasuolo di Vittoria. Come on!

PRICES
- Compared to a lot of other places in Europe and Italy itself, many
parts of Sicily have reasonable prices. Hotels and bed & breakfast
can vary according to locations, services offered, high or low seasons,
but you can have a cappuccino and a croissant for 3,00 euros and there
are lots of places where you can have an excellent dinner or a very good pizza for 16,00-20,00 euros per person, including drinks,starters and sometimes even dessert.

SICILIAN
HEROES - The last reason is the most delicate and complicated one. No
matter how appealing the points 1,2,3 and 4 can be, too often when I talk
about Sicily, one of the first comment I get is about the organised crime: “You’ve got the mafia!”
Thank you. Like I need someone who has never visited my own land to
remind me of that! Some of these people make even their remarks winking at me or with an
exciting smile on their faces, thinking it will be entertaining just
like in the Godfather saga.

The image of St.Pino Puglisi, Catholic priest assassinated by the mafia in 1993

Personally I’d rather be associated with names like Saint Pino Puglisi, Paolo Borsellino, Libero Grassi, Peppino Impastato, Giovanni Falcone and many others. Who are they?

A catholic priest, a judje, an entrepreneur, a free thinker, another judje. What do they have in common?

Well,
these are only few names of the thousands of men and women that
heroically stepped out from the crowd and faced the mafia. They decided
not to compromise or hid their head in the sand, even when their lives
were in danger. They wanted to live a free life and fought to make Sicily a better place, until the ultimate sacrifice.

So…
if you want to come to Sicily please do it for our beautiful blue sea
and breathtaking landscapes, our extraordinary history, our monuments,
our exquisite food and superb wine, our very competitive prices, but
come also to honor our heroes. Because when you pay respect to
them you inevitably give voice to freedom, courage, integrity, hope,
honest work, legality, pure love. This is the REAL SOUL of Sicily.

before decide what to see in Sicily I follow many blogs like yours and like this site "http://www.tourofsicily.com/5-reasons-to-visit-sicily-on-holiday/".I opened my eyes to what to visit especially in Palermo.I visited and I did tours in almost the whole of Sicily, I love Sicily's sea.